Rocky Knob, Virginia 1901

Lonnie,

I never thought I’d ever write you a letter, but you won’t ever read this because I’ll never send it. Besides, I don’t have anyone else to write to.

Character inspiration for Cassie

I also never thought we’d be in this mess. You and I, married to the same man. But I guess that’s over now, isn’t it? You’ve moved on as you had to. And I have Gideon. I honestly didn’t think they would pick me over you. There are moments that I’m sorry they did. It all comes rushing back and I remember us sitting in the church the day the reverend told Gideon that I would be his wife instead of you. Do you remember what Gideon did? He got down on his knees right there, looked me straight in the eyes, and begged me not to demand he return. That’s when I knew. I always felt it, but that’s when I knew without a shadow of a doubt that he loved you and not me. All that to say, if you ever wonder if I’m happy now…I assure you I’m not.

There’s no happiness in what I’ve done. No peace.

This seems to be what my life is made of. I’ve lived for smiles. I’ve lived for laughter. I’ve lived for the moments that take your breath away–certain the consequences won’t sting in the morning as much as I think they will.

They always do.

Just like when I met Gideon. I looked into those green eyes of his and suddenly forgot about everything else. All my fears and insecurities were chased away in his touch. The sound of his voice whispering my name. We both know what he wanted and it was never real love. It’s always just a moment. A brief, blissful moment then heartache follows.

Maybe that’s why I did what I did—revenge. Except it’s not as sweet as I thought it would be. Perhaps because he’s not the same man he once was. There’s something inside him, a desire to do good, that wasn’t there before. I see pieces of him that are changing. I wish I could figure out why.

Especially in moments like today—when this man who couldn’t stand still long enough to truly get to know a girl is missing his family so fierce, he can hardly speak. When he looks past me like I’m not standing there. When his eyes are shadowed—a sorrow so heavy across his brow, that I know it’s you he longs for. These are the moments I wish I hadn’t kept the secret from him, wish I’d told him that our marriage was intact when he thought it no longer was. It was my fault that he thought he was free to marry another. That he was free to marry you. Free to give you his heart. His life.

I fear I’ll never be enough to fill all that he’s lost. There are days that I grow so weary of trying. Perhaps this burden was never mine to bear. Perhaps I wasn’t meant to walk beside this man down the road of life. Maybe it was meant to be you. Lonnie, I’m so sorry. I want to tell Jacob I’m sorry as well. I wish I could, but I’m terrified to look into his little face and say the words…

To tell him that it was me who took his papa away.

This is when my greatest regret takes wings. It flies from my heart to the bed of this sleeping boy who’s no more than a baby. I wonder what he looks like. And if he has green eyes like Gideon. Do you sing Jacob to sleep and promise that everything is going to be alright? That though he’ll never know his father, you’ll make it up to him somehow…someway? How do you do this without weeping?

Or perhaps that’s not possible.

There are nights that I want to tell you I’m sorry. Nights that I lie awake in bed all alone, while Gideon sleeps in his chair. As far from me as he possibly can be. Those are the nights I wish I could turn back time.

There’s moments when I feel like there’s just no hope. Am I in too deep? Or is there a way out of this heartache? I want to trust in this God that I saw in you. I want to better understand the changes I see in Gideon. I want to trust that God can truly be a light unto my path as the Bible says. But I don’t know where to begin. I don’t know how to find that path, set my feet at the beginning of it and simply walk forward.  

Do what I need to do so that Jacob can know his father. I know that will take courage and I want to find it. There’s nothing heroic about me. But I’d like to think that someday soon I could rise up and make this right. For Jacob. For you.

For Gideon. I love him more than he knows.

Cassie

Gideon O’Riley has two wives–but he doesn’t know it.

Giveaway:

Cassie’s prize bundle includes: Framed sheet music of the hymn “Before the Throne of God”, ginger snaps and assorted tea, plus a signed copy of book 2 in the Cadence of Grace series, THOUGH MY HEART IS TORN. ** If the winner has not read the 1st book in the series, BE STILL MY SOUL, they are more than welcome to choose that book instead :) A winner will be drawn on May 19th and contacted via email.

To enter for this prize, simply leave any comment below. If you’d like to share…in THOUGH MY HEART IS TORN, “Before the Throne of God” was the hymn that gave Both Cassie and Gideon strength in a time of need. Is there a hymn that is dear to you?

We invite you to join us each weekday this week as we hop through cyberspace and history, gleaning hope from each heroine’s journey. 

Typically in the past, I’ve made banana bread with baking soda, then discovered the light, almost cakey texture that baking powder gives, so this recipe is entirely new. The coconut mixed in and sprinkled on top along with a pinch or two of brown sugar gives it a lovely, golden crust that’s full of flavor and texture.

Recipe:

1 stick softened butter

1/2 c. white sugar

1/2 c. brown sugar

3 ripe bananas

2 eggs

1/2 c. sweetened shredded coconut

1 tsp vanilla

3 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 c. flour

Directions:

Cream butter and sugars together. Add in mashed bananas (I just toss in large chunks and the running mixer will mash them up if they are nice and ripe) eggs, coconut and vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients. Add dry mixture slowly to wet batter, mixing just enough to incorporate but not to overwork. Pour batter into a greased bread pan and sprinkle the top with 1 tbsp brown sugar and 1 tbsp coconut. This will give it a lovely crust. Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour. A toothpick should come out clean.

A little ice cold milk and you are all set! :]

If you make the bread, I’d love to know how it turns out for you! Do you have a favorite bread recipe that you turn to?

 Rarely am I swept away in a novel as I was by Wedded to War. A fresh voice in Christian fiction, Jocelyn Green captures the heartache and hope of war in this novel that is filled with incredible historic detail about those who worked on the front lines of the Civil War–the soldiers who gave so much to defend their country and the nurses who sacrificed all to care for them. Laced with heart-tugging romance and a hint of mystery, the story of how Charlotte Waverly traded in her hoop skirts for a nursing uniform, the scent of rosewater in her hair for tangles and wisps as she ladled beef tea into a dying soldiers mouth, and her soft hands for the hands of someone who worked without sleep to care for the men who have no one else to care for them, will bring tears to your eyes, a smile to your face and quite possibly, will have you walk away a different person than you were when you began.

About Jocelyn:  

Award-winning author Jocelyn Green inspires faith and courage in her readers through both fiction and nonfiction. A former military wife herself, she offers encouragement and hope to military wives worldwide through her Faith Deployed ministry. Her novels, inspired by real heroines on America’s home front, are marked by their historical integrity and gritty inspiration.

I’ve put together a bundle of goodies inspired by the story to give away to one commenter! One of the little luxuries the heroine of Wedded to War enjoys when she can is a cup of tea so included here is a small sugar bowl, little spoon and a house-shaped tea “ball” that reminded me of Charlotte’s home, plus some white rose tea, a bar of cranberry soap, a little handkerchief and a star shaped wall hook.

All you have to do to enter is leave a comment below!

It can be any comment, or simply to say hello, but if you’d like, you can pop in and peek inside Jocelyn’s website. You don’t even have to knock…just walk right in. :) What is something you learned about Jocelyn or her books while you were there?

For an extra entry: tweet or share about the giveaway on Facebook or any other place and you can have an extra entry! Just mention it in the comments below. :)

A winner will be drawn on Friday, May 3rd and contacted via email

And lastly, I am so excited about her upcoming novel which hits bookshelves in May! Widow of Gettysburg is the second book in the series and I cannot wait to get my hands on a copy! Right now, you can get it for your Kindle or Nook, absolutely free. Happy reading and thank you for being here!

The Christys are one of the most prestigious awards in the industry. I was dumbstruck. I had no idea my publisher had even entered my book. When I got the news, I started shaking so much so, that I could scarcely dial the phone to call my husband. It was such an exciting moment. As soon as it truly sank in, I was very curious as to who the other authors would be in my category–wondering about a handful of possibilities including Laura Frantz’s Love’s Reckoning and Elizabeth Camden’s Against the Tide as well as a few other titles. Just hours later, the announcement was made:

I have started Against the Tide and am very eager to finish it. Elizabeth Camden’s books are so very popular among readers and I’ve been following and enjoying her blog for some time now. Laced with romance and adventure, Against the Tide made lots of top favorite lists of 2012! Another book that topped a ton of favorite lists for 2012 was Laura Frantz’s Love’s Reckoning. I admire Laura not only as a writer, but as a friend and she is a powerful story teller of the colonial era. I am so happy for both of these ladies and it’s just such an honor for Be Still My Soul to be beside their books in this category. 

I cannot express the joy that I’ve experienced over the last few days with this all. I’m still trying to figure out what to make of it! It’s been such a fun few days. And thank you to all my friends and family for the warm wishes! The awards were announced at noon last Friday and as soon as they were, my phone started dinging off the hook as emails and warm wishes were flying in. It was so fun to be able to celebrate with you! A new adventure entirely for me and it’s just one more reason why I love being a part of the Christian fiction community. Thank you!

Last night, I turned in my edits! Wahoo!

It took me about 6 weeks to rewrite the third book in the Cadence of Grace series, but boy oh boy…being on the other side of all that hard work, makes me so excited and thankful for what the story has become. I could have never done it on my own and each time I work on revisions, I’m reminded once again how wonderful my editors are.

I spent the last few days reading the story on an iPad while making changes on my laptop which is a great way to see the story as a “reader” instead of a “writer.” It really helps me catch mistakes and uh oh’s that I may have missed. SO…just for fun, and to celebrate the first round of revisions being done (happy dance!) I thought it would be fun to show you a few behind the scenes bloopers and oopsies that I fixed. :D 

• Lonnie: “Just stand right here in the center of the room and it’ll just take a moment. We’ll want everything to fit you just right.”

           (and we have a theme…JUST sayin’) ;)

• The kitchen was ajar…

            (yes, the whole kitchen stood ajar. Maybe I should just make it the door.)

• Gideon’s words were near her ear. “I should get back to work, though.” Rising, he reached for his saw and got back to work.

            (and I’m glad that’s clear.) 

• Gideon: ”Lonnie, I’m sorry I didn’t love you as well as I should have in book one.”

            (We might have to work on that line.)

Also:

BE STILL MY SOUL is NOW available in Large Print! If you like large print or have  a loved one who does, you can order it online in hardback and with this beautiful Large Print edition cover which I love. I can just see Lonnie and Gideon, starting out on their journey… :)

If you have a mother, aunt or grandmother in your life who reads large print and want to get a copy for them for mother’s day, please let me know and I would love to send you a little note with a signed bookplate and bookmark to go with it! You can leave a comment below or contact me through my website.

*smile*

…and wondered if I heard it. She said it could be their theme song. I couldn’t have agreed more! If Gideon were to write a song, I do think this would be it.

If you’ve read Though My Heart is Torn…you just might know what we’re getting at. ;)

So without further introduction, here is a song you may very well have heard recently on the radio. It’s topping the charts like crazy around here: “Ho Hey” by the Lumineers. Enjoy! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvCBSSwgtg4

(“read it with a box of Kleenex” they say) :)

As I sat down to write this post, I got a little worried that I didn’t have anything fancy planned or super clever to say. I just have a book that I pray will bless people. That it will show them God’s love. In “Be Still My Soul” I hoped to show what HE could build out of nothing. This desire continues with “Though My Heart is Torn”.

My prayer is that this story blesses you and in wanting to find the words, I grabbed the book and flipped to the back:

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This was by far the most challenging story I’ve written. I’ve prayed over these words time and time again that they would be nothing less but honoring to God and that any piece that fell short would be trimmed away. At times it’s been overwhelming to tell the story of a scoundrel, the sins of his past and the ways he and those around him were affected by it. I can’t tell you how many times I saw this manuscript as crazy but to hear from my editor that it was “brave” filled me with the courage to keep going–and as a dear friend shared with me, “Brave is not easy, but brave and courageous is the atmosphere where the Lord says He is in your midst and with you wherever you go.” (See Joshua 1:9)

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Today is such a special day–that some kind of wonderful. THANK YOU for celebrating with me! 

If you want to grab a copy… you can find it in your local bookstore, or order it online! Here is the book page that has those links. And if you haven’t read the first book in the Cadence of Grace series, you can learn all about “Be Still My Soul” here! 

P.S. If you’ve read “Though My Heart is Torn” and have been waiting to place a review on Amazon, it should be officially open to do so!

Thank you to EVERYONE who has been waiting for the next part of Lonnie and Gideon’s story. You all are so, so dear to me! I can’t thank you enough for your support and encouragement.

P.P.S.  I really want to take a moment to thank the FANTASTIC authors who have taken the time to read and endorse these first two books in the Cadence of Grace series. You ladies are such a blessing to me! 

A very special thank you to Linore Burkard, Rosslyn Elliot, Laura Frantz, Mona Hodgson, Susan Meissner, Diane Noble, Catherine Richmond, Carla Stewart, Sarah Sundin, Deborah Vogts and Cindy Woodsmall.

The man on the mandolin, there? That’s my DAD. :)

Most folks call him “Buddy Mike” because he’s a friend to everyone. If you saw the pictures from the book launch party, he was the music and folks had such a great time singing along.  He is such a great dad and the little guy you see there is baby Caleb. I took some pictures while we were in my dad’s music room recently. He was working on composing and recording some bluegrass music for me to use in a rug-making video which I’m going to have for you all soon. But in the meantime, here are a few pictures of the work-in-progress!

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Caleb just might grow up to play the banjo. What do you think? :)

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My dad is one of my best friends in the whole world and whether it’s playing music, or singing or off on an adventure, we’re 2 peas in a pod. I am so blessed to have him.

The rug-making video is just about ready for you all. I’ll post it here very soon and you’ll be able to hear the fun music he wrote and recorded just for this project. I can’t wait!

Grain sacks are brilliant and beautiful. The history geek in me gets way too excited about these lovelies. Way –Back-When in Europe, people would cart their grains to market in monogramed grain sacks. The unique stripe patterns and initials—usually in red, shades of brown, or blue– were unique to the farm they came from, so they could be returned and re-used later. Kind of like how parents now write initials on their kids’ jacket tags… only infinitely more awesome.

Since many of the Appalachian people in the 1800’s and 1900’s were European immigrants… well, I thought these grain sack pillows had just the right feel for Joanne’s site.

Can’t you just picture Lonnie sitting by the fire, embroidering one of these? Or, ever-resourceful, stitching something entirely new out of an old grain sack?

Grain sacks are used for all sorts of interior decorating and upholstering these days, but the authentic ones cost a pretty penny. So we’re making our own, folks. For just a few dollars. Who’s with me?

Note: I apologize in advance for some of my methods. I’m not a perfectionist when it comes to crafts and sewing. Or cooking, for that matter. I use words like “schplook” and “done-ish” when writing out recipes.  I also occasionally suggest – and please don’t hate me—that if someone would rather not sew, they can hot-glue projects like these.

Supplies needed:

1) Fabric. You can use any grain sack-looking fabric: Muslin, Burlap, etc.—but my favorite is this leftover stuff from when I slip-covered my couch. What is it? This fancy-schmancy stuff called drop  cloth. Yep, just head down to Home Depot or Lowe’s, snag a drop cloth from the paint section, run it through the wash, iron, and you’re good to go. Added benefit: drop cloths have hemmed edges, which will save you a step further down.

2) Sewing machine and thread, or glue gun if you want to try that out instead. I haven’t tried the glue gun on a pillow cover. It definitely won’t be a strong a “seam” as sewing, but it just might work.

3) Measuring Tape

4) Scissors

5) Pins

6) Fabric Paint and Paint Brush for stripes

7) Masking Tape (not pictured) for painting stripes

 

If you plan to embroider a monogram, you’ll need…

-Embroidery floss and needle.

-Embroidery hoop.

 

If you plan to embellish with typography instead, you’ll need…

-Fabric Transfer sheet and Iron (pictured later).

 

Oh! And don’t forget…

Tea. To your liking. Because nothing is complete without it. ;)

Now, on with the project!

First, Measure the pillow you’re making a cover for, and cut your front-piece fabric one inch longer than your measurements on all sides, to allow room for a .5” seam on all sides when sewing.

We’ll use the French typography image pillow as our example. Funny story behind this thing—I’ll get to it in a moment.

Cut your front piece of fabric 1-inch longer than what you measured. The pillow to the left was 16”x16”, so in theory, I would have cut the front piece of fabric to be 17”x17”.

I say “in theory,” because, as my fumbling ways would have it, this whole pillow cover was an accident. I never planned on making it. The front piece of fabric was cut for the long rectangular pillow you see that ended up with the B and A monogram—only I didn’t like how heavily the paint came out on it.

So rather than throw that piece of fabric away (I love that fabric…), I used it to iron the French typography image on, and cover a square Christmas pillow that I was having trouble finding storage for. So the typography grain sack pillow you see up there? Totally an incognito, cherry red Christmas pillow. Anyhow, the measurements were slightly off because of that, but hey! Pillows are pliable! Hooray for forgiving projects!

 

For the back of the pillow, you’ll be cutting two smaller pieces that will end up overlapping, making an envelope closure. This way you can remove the cover for easy washing, etc. The great thing about using dropcloth is that you can use the already-hemmed edges for these pieces, saving yourself the task of hemming the center edges where the two pieces will overlap. Each of the two back pieces will look something like this:

Cut them so that they’ll overlap about one to two inches. For example, for a 16”x16” pillow, I’d cut each back panel to be 17”x9.5-ish”.

If you’d like a really thorough step-by-step guide to cutting and—for later– sewing it all together, there’s a great one here. It’s legit. She even makes things like …(prepare yourself)… patterns!

What the back will look like once it’s finished (minus the criss-crossed overlap closure. I didn’t even know I’d criss-crossed the overlap until I took this picture today… Whoops! Told you I bumble my way through…

 

But wait! I’m getting ahead of myself. You haven’t sewn yet, so for now…

…set your two back panels aside. It’s time to paint your stripes on and embellish that front piece.

 

This is where it gets fun.

Paint Instructions:

Take your main piece of fabric. With your chosen color of fabric paint (red and blue being the most common for the grain sack look) and your masking tape, follow Miss Mustardseed’s wonderful painting directions here.

I laid a clean garbage bag on my kitchen counter, taped the fabric down to the counter, and painted.

After it’s dry, you can either skip to the end of this post for sewing instructions, or read on if you’d like to embellish it further with painted monograms or an iron-on typography image before sewing.

 

 

Monogram (embroidered or painted) instructions:

If I tried to paint my letters on like Miss Mustard Seed did, I would spend an hour on it and it would look like a splat. Possibly, if I’m exceptionally successful, an amoeba.

*Sigh*… Paint is so… permanent. And I am so… not-painterly. Now if Joanne were doing this, that’d be another story. Did you know she’s an accomplished painter? (Don’t edit that out, Joanne. The people deserve to know! You can even leave this parenthetical in to prove you were forced.)

So, I took a needle to it. Unfortunately this is where my directions get super-vague. Basically you make a bunch of stitched x’s until you get the image you want. And if it starts to look unruly? Take some stitches out and begin again. So forgiving!

OK, I’ll get a tad more detailed than that:

I wanted that authentic-European look, so I found some images on Etsy.com, where you can see a plethora of grain sacks for sale, and printed out some close-ups of the embroidered letters. To find sample images, go to Etsy.com, or Google.com, and search for “Vintage European Grain Sack”.

The letters could be anything you choose.. Vintage grain sack monograms indicate the farm or family of origin. I customized the monogram to be mine and my husband’s first initials.

(contrary to what’s shown here, you’ll want to cut and split your embroidery floss before threading the needle)

A few embroidery guidelines:

-Cut a length of embroidery floss, then split it. Each little skein is made up of a cord of 6 small strands. You can split the length of cord to whatever thickness you like. I split mine into a cord of 3 strands (Oh! It’s even scriptural! I wrote a blog post on this once…).

-As you work, it helps to envision rows. You’ll see in some of the images that the embroidered letters are comprised of rows of tiny x’s, skipping the space of an x occasionally to get that decorative gap within the letters.

For a quick crash-course on embroidery like this, here’s a great you-tube clip I dug up.

 

 

Iron-On Graphic Instructions:

For my typography pillow, in keeping with the European feel of the grain sack look, I visited this website to find a free graphic. There are tons to choose from, and most are even provided in mirror image (backwards), which you’ll need for printing and iron-on purposes.

 

 

1)      Find a graphic you like

2)      If you like it in black print as shown, download their full size .pdf and print straight from there, following the directions on the Fabric Transfer package for completing the transfer.

I wanted my typography to print out blue, so I had to take these additional steps. Instead of printing right away, find a graphic you like, then…

3)      Right click on it, select copy

4)      Open Microsoft Word, right click on the white screen and select paste.

5)      Your image should appear. On the top toolbar, click where it says Format or Picture Tools.

6)      As shown below, make sure your picture is selected on the screen, then select Colors from the toolbar. You’ll see some color variants to choose from.

 

 

7)      Print on iron-transfer sheet, and follow the directions from the package for how to iron the image to your fabric.

 

And now for the final step!

Again, if you’d like a really thorough step-by-step guide to sewing it all together, click here.

If you want the Amanda-digest version…

-On a flat surface, place your main piece, right side up facing you. On top of that, place your overlapping back panels, right side down, facing the front piece, lined up with the outer edges of the main piece.

-Pin at corners, overlapping points, and a few other places along the edges.

-Sew around the perimeter.

…and now for the best moment in the whole process…

-Turn it right-side out and…voila! Your pillow cover is done! Insert your pillow and you have yourself a customized, homemade grain sack pillow. All told, you could probably do this for less than $5.00 (keeping mind that even if you have to buy a larger-sized drop cloth than you need, you’ll only use a fraction of it for this project… and you’ll be left with yards of possibility!)

Oh, did I not mention the giveaway yet? How thoughtless of me!

Yes, Joanne and I have cooked up a giveaway for you. Simply leave a comment below*, and we’ll choose one winner on Friday, 3/22. The winner can specify what size throw-pillow they’d like me to make a cover for, what color paint, and help design the embellishment (whether it’s customized monogram in the color of your choice, or a typography image from the website referenced above).

Now. I let you get a glimpse at my haphazard project ways. As you can imagine, this provides me with plenty of stories of project-fails… some of which you witnessed today. Can you share a D.I.Y. (Do-It-Yourself) story with us? Perhaps something you attempted that didn’t quite pan out… or perhaps something you endeavored that more than panned out. Do tell!

*Entrants must be 18 years old or older and a resident of the United States or Canada. 

 

UPDATE: Giveaway is now closed and…we have a winner! Congratulations to Bonnie (bonnieroof60@) — I’ve sent you an e-mail so that we can get to brainstorming! Thank you to everyone who chimed in, we had such fun with you.

 

* * * * 

Meet: Amanda Dykes

The Author of my life gave me a heart full of words.  They tumble around in there, changing and moving and learning, until I set them loose with ink on paper and learn some more. Out they pour: sometimes it’s story, sometimes a simple revelation. As I make a home for them, my hope is to invite you in, sit a bit with you and– yet again– continue to learn as we visit, as we draw near to  Jesus together.

Amanda is represented by Wendy Lawton of Books and Such Literary Agency, and is a member of ACFW.

As usual, both my editor and I want you all to get the best book possible to end this series, which means I’ll be hanging out with these pages for the next 5 or so weeks:

I’m thankful for the support and encouragement of friends and family (and for the existence of tea and chocolate) :D

And chick flicks for when I need a change of pace. Ok, I’ll stop now. 

I hope you all have a fantastic week! I’ll be popping onto Facebook a few times this week and sometime in the next few days, have a giveaway to share with you!

But while we’re on the subject…

Let me ask you: Do you have any questions about the editing process or what it involves? If you’re a writer, what has your experience been with editing?

Oh and also! I wanted to tell you about a little free read that I posted last week :) It’s a chapter from BE STILL MY SOUL that’s been reworked from Lonnie’s point of view, into Gideon’s.

If you’d like to know what Gideon was thinking during the chestnut hunting scene, you can read it here. I hope you enjoy it!